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BARRY WILNER, AP Pro Football Writer
SEATTLE (AP) —
The loudest stadium in America was silent. A return trip to the Super Bowl was slipping away.
Time for the Seattle Seahawks to show why they are champions.
"You have the belief these guys have in one another, there is nothing you can't do," coach Pete Carroll said after an implausible comeback for a 28-22 victory over Green Bay in the NFC championship game Sunday.
Plagued by turnovers and outplayed much of the day, the Seahawks staged a stunning rally built on resilience. Russell Wilson, who struggled until the final minutes, hit Jermaine Kearse for a 35-yard touchdown 3:19 into the extra period to win it.
The Seahawks became the first defending champion to make the Super Bowl in 10 years, and will play the AFC champion New England Patriots, who routed Indianapolis 45-7. How Seattle got there was stunning.
"The will and the drive of these men is unbelievable," Wilson said. "We always find a way to finish."
Seattle (14-4) trailed 19-7 with about four minutes remaining and had been ineffective on offense all game. Wilson finally put a drive together with passes to Doug Baldwin and Marshawn Lynch — initially ruled a touchdown but called back because he stepped out of bounds. Wilson finished with a 1-yard scoring run to cut the lead to 19-14 with 2:09 left.
HOWARD FENDRICH, AP Pro Football Writer
The NFL is investigating whether the New England Patriots deflated footballs that were used in their AFC championship game victory over the Indianapolis Colts.
"We are looking into it," league spokesman Brian McCarthy wrote in an email to The Associated Press on Monday. "We do not have anything further to add at this point."
The inquiry was first reported by the website for WTHR-TV in Indiana, citing an unnamed source.
"We'll cooperate fully with whatever the league wants us to, whatever questions they ask," Belichick said Monday during his regular conference call with reporters.
He said he was unaware there was an issue until Monday morning.
The Patriots have come under scrutiny with regards to NFL rules in the past, most infamously when they were punished for videotaping sideline signals used by the New York Jets during a 2007 game. Belichick was fined $500,000, and the team was docked $250,000 and stripped of its 2008 first-round draft pick.
According to the NFL rule book, home teams are responsible for furnishing playable balls at all times. Each team brings 12 primary balls, while home teams are required to also bring 12 backup balls.
Once the referee makes sure the footballs are properly inflated, they're delivered to ball attendants provided by the home team.
The league's game operations manual notes: "If any individual alters the footballs, or if a non-approved ball is used in the game, the person responsible and, if appropriate, the head coach or other club personnel will be subject to discipline, including but not limited to, a fine of $25,000."
Deflating a football could change the way it would be gripped by a player or the way it travels through the air.
The Patriots beat the Colts 45-7 to reach the Super Bowl. New England will play the defending champion Seattle Seahawks for the NFL title at Glendale, Arizona, on Feb. 1.
Colts coach Chuck Pagano said he did not notice issues with the football. He did not specify when asked whether the Colts had reported the issue to officials.
"We talk just like they talk to officials (before the game), we have an opportunity to talk to the officials about a lot of things, things that you've seen on tape like the formations we talked about last week," Pagano said. "Every coach in the league gets an opportunity to visit with the officials about that kind of stuff before the game."
In Sunday night's lopsided AFC finale, quarterback Tom Brady threw for three touchdowns and running back LeGarrette Blount gained 148 yards while scoring three touchdowns to send New England to its sixth Super Bowl in the past 14 years.
Colts quarterback Andrew Luck had his worst game as a pro, completing only 12 of 33 passes for 126 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions.
On his regular weekly morning-after-game appearance Monday on WEEI radio, Brady said he wasn't aware of the report about the league's investigation into whether footballs were properly inflated against Indianapolis.
"I think I've heard it all at this point," Brady said with a laugh.
"That's the last of my worries," he said. "I don't even respond to stuff like this."
By BARRY WILNER
AP Pro Football Writer
You again.
Not that the Patriots and Seahawks are likely to mind seeing who has joined them in the NFL's conference championships. Remember, New England routed Indianapolis 42-20 and Seattle romped over Green Bay 36-16 to open the season.
Rematches at the final step to reaching the Super Bowl have been common recently. In the AFC, from 2009-14, only in 2011 was the conference championship not a repeat meeting. In the NFC, it happened in 2010, 2011, 2013 and this season.
Twice in the NFC, intradivision matchups meant a third game between rivals: 2010 when Green Bay won at Chicago, and 2013, when Seattle beat San Francisco.
Not one of the others has involved teams from the same division. Excluding 2014 - if you know now who is going to win next Sunday, please clue us in - in those rematches, the regular-season winner also won the AFC playoff game only once: Baltimore over New England in 2012.
In the NFC, the Giants lost to the 49ers during the regular schedule, but beat them in overtime in the conference title match.
Rematches are a double-edged sword. The victor in the first meeting has the confidence of already owning a win and the knowledge that more than enough worked during that regular-season game to handle the opponent. The loser has the revenge factor - and maybe a touch more motivation.
"I'd like to think I'm a better quarterback and we're a better team and more well-equipped to handle the unknown and the unforeseen," Colts QB Andrew Luck said.
"I think we've got a bunch of good football players, and a chance to go up New England and play them and get another crack at it is awesome. We'll make sure to take full advantage of it and do what we can."
The Colts did plenty on Sunday in dominating Denver, avenging their opening loss of 2014. They also saw the Patriots struggle, twice falling into 14-point holes before rallying to defeat Baltimore on Saturday.
As Patriots coach Bill Belichick noted, dryly of course: "I don't think that's a formula to win a lot of playoff games. They're a tough group and they never give up, no matter what the situation is."
The upcoming situation is simply this: Luck and the Colts have the look of a rising power after two highly impressive postseason performances. New England showed some vulnerability that Luck, who led the NFL with 40 TD passes, and a rapidly improving defense just might be able to take advantage of.
Of course, after vanquishing Peyton Manning and the Broncos, Indy gets Tom Brady, the most accomplished postseason quarterback of his era.
"That's how it works in the playoffs," safety Mike Adams says. "Everybody we play is top-tier. Everybody we play is big time. We got to step our game up and be ready."
Even more intriguing might be the NFC matchup.
Seattle was on a, well, Super high for the season's traditional kickoff game, and the defending NFL champs dismantled Green Bay. Then the Seahawks went into a funk and, at one point were 3-3.
They are now 13-4 and have that mean, hungry, determined, versatile and, yes, invincible air about them.
"Guys are playing selfless. There aren't any egos, there aren't any agendas, and guys just want to do whatever it takes to win," All-Pro cornerback Richard Sherman said.
"If that means making a tackle, then make the tackle; if that means catching the football, we're going to catch the football. Guys are playing for one another, they don't care about stats, nor do they care about anything else."
Sounds a lot like Green Bay, which displayed the resilience of a championship contender in its scintillating comeback victory against Dallas at Lambeau Field. An ailing All-Pro QB Aaron Rodgers, still battling an aching calf, got everyone involved, including two rookie targets who scored touchdowns in the second half.
Just like the Seahawks, the Packers are vastly improved from midseason.
And equally as hungry.
"Looking forward to going back up to Seattle," coach Mike McCarthy says, "and looking forward to winning the NFC championship."